Filter recommendations for Fujinon GF lenses?

highdesertmesa wrote:

Of the protective filters I've used over the years on GF and other lenses (Canon RF, Leica M):

Breakthrough – Top quality. Never buy from their "official" Amazon store. I got two filters in a row that had been replaced – one was a fake and another was a different brand filter entirely. Always order direct from their website, and you may have to wait months for some filters types and sizes to come back into stock.

I’ve been looking at Breakthrough since Jim recommended them. I suppose their X2 UV filter would be the closest to a clear glass protective lens in their line? The price seems good- around $50.- for each of the 67mm and 77mm lenses I’d need, and they are both listed as in stock and ready to ship on their site. I may call them tomorrow. I’m wondering if the X2 UV lenses are  compatible with the Fujinon lens hoods on my 32-64mm, and 100-200mm lenses. I’m also wondering if the (maybe slight in the case of the X2 UV ?) amount of UV filtration is something I’ll want as a general matter. One other question about Breakthrough: the knurled brass rim looks great for screwing/unscrewing, but might the lens tend to come loose in tight padded spaces in camera bags?

Zeiss T* UV – same quality as breakthrough but with aluminum rings instead of brass. I prefer brass, but I like the T* coating so I use them almost exclusively

I’ve had cameras with Zeiss lenses in the past and loved them! I just checked the Zeiss T*UV on B+H. It had 268 out of 289 5-star reviews(!), 12  4-star reviews on top of that !! One well written 3-star review , though talked about the difficulty cleaning , removing smudges, etc. from the T* UV. I’m wondering how easy to clean youve found them? Again there is the UV issue. Wondering how much UV filtration there is with these lenses and their effect on images?

B+W MRC Nano – I stopped using these as I confirmed that for some lenses they could have a negative impact on corner performance versus no filter or versus the Zeiss T* UV filter. These were genuine B+W filters from Adorama and B&H purchased over different time periods, so I ruled out it being a bad batch. I have no idea why – perhaps the nano coating can do strange things to the light ray angles with some lenses. I doubt it's because of the glass quality itself. In any case, I stopped using them completely as I didn't want to have to test every lens with them.

I had been looking at B+W both because of the recommendations here, and some fond memories of looking at Julius Shulman architectural photographs made using a 4X5 film camera and  Schneider 90mm (wide angle) lens. I’m wondering if you tested their “Pro” or “Master” series 007 lenses?

I’ve also been looking at Quartzline UV filters as a protective lens. They describe a “quartz glass” lens material. Don’t know the story on that. They are pricey, but claim a very high transmission percentage..

Leica UV – Not that any sane person would use these, but since I'm not sane, I've bought them for my Leica M lenses before. They use aluminum rings that can get easily stuck/jammed (versus Zeiss UV's aluminum rings which just tend to never get super tight). I have had these negatively impact corner performance on some Leica M lenses.

Like others, I have to use protective filters due to the environments I shoot in.

For polarization for digital cameras, I use Heliopan linear polarizers. No need to use circular polarizers and have to deal with the strange angles of darkening you can get. With a linear filter, you simply are dialing in the strength of the effect by rotating the filter.

Thanks for the Heliopan linear polarizer recommendation. I am thinking to start with lens protectors for each of my (2) lenses, and to soon after try a polarizer for one of them and see how that goes.